Sushi in Macau

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It's been just over a year since I was last in Macau, which is a far cry from the days before the pandemic, when I made 10 trips in one particular year. Tonight I boarded the ferry for a sushi dinner in Macau - only the second time for me to have sushi in the other SAR. The invitation came from B Bestie on behalf of Sushi Kissho by Miyakawa (鮨 吉祥 宮川), which had just received their first Michelin star a few weeks ago. Chef Miyakawa Masaaki (宮川政明) is spending a few days in Macau to celebrate this occasion, so I happily accepted the invitation.

I'd never stepped foot in the Raffles at Galaxy Macau before, and in fact have only had one experience dining within Galaxy Macau before tonight. So... country bumpkin gets to see some serious bling!

Our first stop was at The Long Bar (but, of course...) for a quick drink before dinner. I was suitably impressed with the lineup of vinyl album sleeves on the wall just inside the entrance, with classic all-time favorites. And the playlist was a lot of classic rock, which was kinda surprising for the clientele in this city.

I should have waited until after the ladies had received recommendations from the staff, or at least until I had a look at the menu. That way I would have ended up ordering one of those girlie drinks I love so much. Instead, I acted like Pavlov's dog and raised my hand when the word "negroni" was mentioned. To be fair, this was a very good and smooth one, but still... I wish I had taken a signature girlie drink!

Time for dinner, and we took our seats around the L-shaped counter made of Japanese cypress (檜). They brought us a stool with straw mats on top, so G Girl and I put our cameras on the mats. I had initially put my phone on top of tonight's menu so as to not scratch the counter, but they brought us mini tatami (畳) for our phones, too.

First came the appetizers (お摘み):

Toyama firefly squid and spring vegetables with walnut miso (富山の螢烏賊 春野菜 胡桃味噌) - it's always nice to have firefly squid when they're in season, and we've got asparagus and hosta (ウルイ) mixed with some walnut miso. Interesting use of buntan (文旦) to add some citrus flavors and acidity to lighten things up.

2019 Hirakawa Les Amitiés Rosé Sélection - nice nose of red fruits, along with a little flint and minerals.

Rice straw smoked Nagasaki baby bluefin tuna Clam steamed in sake (蛤の酒蒸し) - Miyakawa-san and team have been made aware of my wish not to have any tuna, so I was given a clam instead... topped with a few julienned pickled radish. I had initially been eagerly waiting for what I thought was bonito tataki (叩き), and was honestly a little disappointed when it turned out to be straw-smoked baby tuna (めじ鮪藁焼き)... Oh well...

Yamagata cherry trout and bamboo shoot with seaweed sauce (山形の桜鱒 筍 海苔出汁) - the cherry salmon (桜鱒) came with skin that had been fried till crispy before being marinated. The bamboo shoot and canola flower (菜花) were fine, but the seaweed sauce was very nice.

We were next shown the black abalone (黒鮑) from Shimane Prefecture (島根県), which had been slow-cooked. I didn't ask how they were "slow-cooked" but will assume they had been steamed with sake.

Shimane black abalone with liver sauce (島根の黒鮑 肝のツメ) - the abalone was actually quite fluffy and bouncy in texture.

Given that Miyakawa-san worked under Chef Yoshitake Masahiro (吉武正博), one would expect the abalone and its liver sauce to be a focus... and indeed, it's one of the signature dishes. So it was all the more interesting to see the liver sauce being a lighter version, using less liver and not delivering as much metallic flavor. Of course we were given a ball of shari (シャリ) to use up the leftover sauce, but they seem to have forgotten to give me a little extra sauce the way they did for everyone else...

Wa 8 Gold Label Junmai Daiginjo (和８ 金ラベル 純米大吟醸) - seimaibuai of 28%. Very sweet on the nose, with lots of starchy rice notes. Smooth and easy to drink.

Hokkaido hairy crab and sea urchin with black vinegar sauce (北海道の毛蟹 紫雲丹 黒酢の餡) - well... when you've got two of the best seafood to come out of Hakodate (函館) in Hokkaido - the horsehair crab (毛蟹) and purple sea urchin (紫雲丹), what's not to like?!

We were asked to mix everything up so that the black vinegar sauce could deliver a good dose of acidity to go with the sweet crab and sea urchin. Very, very nice.

Then came the sushi portion, of which there were 10 pieces. The shari uses a mix of Koshihikari (こしひかり) from Fukui (福井) and Yumepirika (ゆめぴりか) from Hokkaido, then seasoned with three different types of red rice vinegar. The ball is also on the small side compared to the neta (ネタ).

Bigfin reef squid (泥障烏賊) from Toyama (富山) - this had been very finely scored on both sides, which helps to tenderize and almost liquefy the neta so that it got kinda sticky despite being pretty chunky. I certainly did not expect to have a dab of minced ginger on top.

Ark shell (赤貝) from Yamaguchi (山口) - I could taste the fresh-ground wasabi straight away as it was on the strong side. The clam was very crunchy, and the acidity of the shari was not too strong, but the rice grains were definitely much more firm than those from other sushiya (寿司屋) I'm used to, which would make sense given that we've got Yumepirika in the mix.

2021 Mongaku Valley Tochi - definitely got that bongwater feel... Riper on the palate than expected, with plenty of marmalade, and also flinty.

Lean tuna from Nagasaki Rosy seabass (長崎の赤身 赤睦) - this came thick cut and the texture was very tender but ever so slightly crunchy. The acidity in the shari was now showing.

Alfonsino (金目鯛) from Shizuoka (静岡) - FAIL. Initially I really liked that the splendid alfonsino came thick cut, even though there was a little too much wasabi. Then as I chewed a little more, I realized there was a pretty long FISHBONE in the neta. I extracted it from my mouth and placed it back on the geta (下駄) in front of me, and it probably took 2 minutes before one of the juniors noticed it and discreetly removed it with a hand towel.

This has only happened to me on two previous occasions. The last time it happened - more than a decade ago - the chef was mortified and apologized profusely... and admitted with shame that he had gone out drinking till the wee hours with a fellow chef. Zero reaction from anyone tonight... maybe because we were in a big group tonight and they just didn't want anyone else nearby to know they had failed so badly.

I would normally take a picture of the offending bone, but I was simply too shocked tonight and forgot to do so. Oh well...

Medium fatty tuna (長崎の中トロ) from Nagasaki Purple sea urchin (紫雲丹) - the sea urchin from Hadate Suisan (羽立水産) was, of course, lovely.

Gizzard shad (小肌) from Kumamoto (熊本) - as expected, the acidity in the neta was good.

In addition to the gari (ガリ) on the geta, we were given a small plate of pickled radish as palate-cleanser.

Prawn (車海老) from Kagoshima (鹿児島) - now THIS was interesting... I honestly can't remember the last time that I was served a Japanese tiger prawn nigiri where the tail of the prawn had been cut off like that. Maybe because Miyakawa-san makes a small shari and he wanted the size of the neta to match it. Anyway, the prawn was very soft and tender, without any hint of crunchiness.

Sea urchin (雲丹) from Hokkaido (北海道) - there were two different sources of Japanese green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) used here. The ones from Hirakawa Suisan (平川水産) were mixed in with the rice, while the ones from Kissho Suisan (吉祥水産) came on top of the rice.

Even though the rice had already been coated with sea urchin, we were asked to mix everything together again to make a mazegohan (混ぜご飯). The cold temperature of the sea urchin made this nice and refreshing. As I often say... just like ice cream.

Kameizumi Shuka Chosun Manju Junmai Daigonjo Genshu (亀泉 酒家長春 萬壽 純米大吟醸 原酒) - seimaibuai of 35%. Classic banana on the nose. Nice and balanced on the palate, if veering ever slightly to the dry side.

Sea eel (穴子) from Nagasaki (長崎) - it's not surprising to see Miyakawa-san serve conger eel (穴子) as a bozushi (棒鮨) when one remembers his time with Yoshitake-san. I wasn't expecting so much wasabi, but it didn't turn out to be as distracting as I had expected, thanks to a good amount of acidity in the shari.

Tuna roll (長崎のネギトロ巻き) from Nagasaki Ark shell skirt roll (赤貝のヒモ巻き) - I guess one can only get sea urchin as a substitute so many times, and the skirt (ヒモ) adds some crunch to the roll.

Miso soup (味噌椀)

Omelet (卵焼き) - ummm... not a fan. And I'm a big fan of castella (カステラ)-style 卵焼き. I guess I just found it bland and boring? There wasn't a lot of flavor here as it was neither on the eggy side like the traditional style, nor was it more sweet like other castella versions.

Tonight's dessert was a wedge of orange with warabi mochi (わらび餅).

Meiri Shurui 100 Years Premium Umeshu (明利酒類 百年梅酒 プレミアム) - served on the rocks.

We had already had enough food, and as I was conscious about my weight, I chose not to get any additional pieces. Very grateful to have had the opportunity to come and enjoy dinner in Macau on a Friday night, and also thankful for our comfy ride back to Hong Kong afterwards.